"Running around the bases, all I could think about was my 11-year-old begging me for a home run. I tried to explain to him, it's not that easy to hit one," said Burnett, who frankly did make it look simple.

With the Cardinals' John Lackey working on a two-hit shutout and with two outs, Burnett hammered an 0-2 fastball over the wall in left-center, above and several rows beyond the 383-foot sign.

"I put a good swing on it and ran into one," was Burnett's explanation.

As Burnett rounded first base, he pointed toward PNC Park's suite level, where Ashton "was going crazy," according to his wife, Karen.

"I tried to let him know it probably won't happen," Burnett said of a conversation they'd had before he started what he said will be his final season. "But it did, and as I rounded first, all I thought about was him. My little man. ... He thinks his daddy can do it all."

Ashton now knows Pops can, indeed, do it all -- pitch his best ball at 38, make his first All-Star team, go deep to wake up an entire stadium and city.